Virginia Wheeler Martin Family History and Learning Center: Medina County, Ohio's Earliest Inhabitants

by Lauren Kuntzman

November is National American Indian Heritage Month. In honor of that, this week's blog post is about the first inhabitants of Medina County, Ohio.

Before the first European came to Ohio in the late 1600s, at least three different cultures had previously lived in or near Medina County. These cultures did not live here at the same time, but were separated by thousands of years. These cultures are not specific American Indian tribes; rather they are people who shared unique and distinct artifacts and ways of life. These cultures included:

Clovis Culture

Time Period: 10000 to 8000 B.C. (Paleoindian Period) (Late Ice Age)

Characteristics:

Presently, the Clovis culture is the earliest Paleoindian culture discovered in Ohio. The people of this culture were hunters and gatherers. They hunted now-extinct animals (like mammoths and mastodons), as well as smaller animals. They used distinctive spear points called “Clovis points” to kill their game and moved frequently, following their game and the seasons.

Named for: An archeological site near Clovis, New Mexico, where points were first identified.

Locally: Paleo Crossing Site (a.k.a. the Old Dague Farm Site), Sharon Center, Medina County, Ohio. An archeological site in the early-1990s, excavations by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History identified this location as a significant base camp for bands of Paleoindians.

Hopewell Culture

Time Period: A.D. 1 to 400 (Middle Woodland Period)

Characteristics:

The most well-known characteristic of the Hopewell culture is their earthworks. These earthworks are large-scale geometric shapes. They were ceremonial and may have had a connection to solar and lunar cycles. Some are burial mounds. Most of these earthworks are in Southern Ohio; those that exist in Northeast Ohio tend to be smaller than those found in southern parts of the state.

The people of the Hopewell culture lived in small communities. They were hunters and gatherers, but also grew crops in gardens. They had a trade network across North America. Materials acquired through trade were used in beautiful artworks.

Named for: Mordecai Hopewell, who owned the Ross County, Ohio property where a significant mound group was located.

Locally: Everett Knoll, located in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, is the closest site to Medina County.

Whittlesey Culture

Time Period: A.D. 1000 to 1600 (Late Pre-Contact Period, a.k.a. Late Prehistoric Period)

Characteristics:

Whittlesey culture lived in Northeast Ohio. Other cultures lived in Ohio at the same time, like the Fort Ancient culture (southern and central Ohio), the Sandusky culture (Northwest Ohio), and the Monongahela culture (eastern Ohio). Each of these cultures could be identified by their distinctive styles of pottery. Examples of Whittlesey culture pottery are in the collection of the Cleveland Natural History Museum.

Whittlesey culture settlements were located near Lake Erie or on plateaus that overlooked valleys around rivers and streams. They hunted, fished, gathered berries and nuts, and grew crops. Unlike the Hopewell who previously lived in the area, people of Whittlesey culture did not have an extensive trade network.

Named for: Charles Whittlesey, an archaeologist, author, and geologist who worked in Ohio during the 1800s. He identified the characteristics that made these peoples distinct from other cultures in Ohio at the same time. Whittlesey later helped found the Western Reserve Historical Society.

Locally: South Park Village, located in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. In Medina County, Charles Whittlesey also identified sites near Medina, Weymouth, and Granger Township. Illustrations from Whittlesey's books are below.

Archeologists today are still trying to learn what happened to the Whittlesey culture. Some believe that the Beaver Wars forced the Whittlesey to move away from Northeast Ohio. Others speculate that diseases from Europe passed to American Indians in states east of Ohio, and were later passed to the Whittlesey culture. Regardless of what happened, there were no permanent or even semi-permanent settlements of American Indians in Northeast Ohio between 1650 and 1730.

Throughout the mid- to late-1700s, some American Indians returned to Northeast Ohio. No settlements are known in Medina County, though the Cuyahoga Valley included Seneca (one of the tribes belonging to the Five Nations, also known as the Iroquois Nation), Ojibwa (formerly called the Chippewa), and the Ottawa. During the late-1700s and early 1800s, various treaties with the United States government pushed the American Indians westward. The 1805 Treaty of Fort Industry marked the end of American Indians living in the lands of the Western Reserve.

Reminder: It is illegal to collect artifacts or disturb archeological sites on federal property, including national parks. Additionally, many cities, counties, and states also have laws that forbid taking American Indian artifacts.